a quote lifted from utube
"As a kid I thought this was the best surfing instrumental ever. It has everything: weird intro, then the tom tom thing, then a great riff, then a screamin sax solo behind which the guitar does that Bububububububububububa thing, pauses, and bubububas deeper into the﻿ bass, a final chorus on muted strings, and a big orgasmic ending back before that became common."

"Miserlou" by Dick Dale has to be the THE surf tune picking only one, but the rest of my top ten would be (in no particular order):

Squad Car (Eddie and The Showman)
The Jester (Jim Messina and the Jesters)
Mar Gaya (Fender IV)
The Wedge/A Run For Life (Dick Dale)
Latin'ia (Sentinals)
Surf Rider (The Lively Ones)
Paradise Cove (The Lively Ones)
Walk, Don't Run (I like the Ventures version. This song was written on a napkin by jazzer Johnny Smith when, after dissing rock music in general)he was challenged to write a pop hit - he did!!)
Pipeline (The Chantays)

Truly, "Apache" as recorded by Jorgen & Greta Ingmann. It is not what they play, it is how. I've heard it a thousand times and it still sends chills down my back. Oddly, nothing else recorded by Jorgen Ingmann is listenable. Other versions of Apache are quotidian, including Ventures and Shadows.

That is a marvelous recording, but the late Danny Gatton took it several steps further--and on guitar rather than sax. Shadowy Men covered Danny Gatton's version but not at the same level. Gatton was not just a virtuoso, his playing was thrilling without resorting to gimmicky percussive maneuvers.